My Homestay in Japan

This post features Zahra Osman, one of our students, who have completed the 2-year Japanese Beginners Course, got JLPT N5 proficiency and traveled solo to Japan. Zahra is currently studying Linguistics at Carleton University and is a part of Japanese Pre-Intermediate Course at Yuriya Nihongo.

Hello, my name is Zahra!

Like many of us, visiting Japan was always on my bucket list. After studying at Yuriya Nihongo for a year and a half at the time, I was ready to finally take the next step. I planned a 3 week trip in the month of May that would cover multiple cities with the goal of experiencing the culture first hand!

Hida Beef

During my trip to Japan, I had the chance to explore so many unforgettable places. In Tokyo, I visited major areas such as Shibuya and Shinjuku as well as their beautiful parks like Ueno and Yoyogi. I wore a kimono with new local friends to shrines, and enjoyed authentic Japanese food. I also took a short trip to Yokohama, which was full of charm and had the iconic Ferris wheel overlooking the water.

Matcha at Asakusa

As much as I enjoyed sightseeing and all of the delicious food, the true highlight of my trip was the people and interactions I had along the way. I am definitely not one to shy away from utilizing the Japanese I knew, and this allowed me to connect a little bit with the locals. And I definitely noticed their walls go down a bit as soon as I greeted them with a simple “こんにちは”. Even the smallest of exchanges meant so much to me as a language learner and gave me the motivation to keep going!

Ghibli Park

In Nagoya, I stayed with a warm homestay family for a week, which gave me the perfect opportunity to practice my Japanese in a daily life setting, eat homemade Japanese cuisines (Nikujaga was my favourite!) and learn more about their culture. Speaking exclusively in Japanese was a challenging but rewarding experience. While there, I also visited Ghibli Park and took a day trip to the historic towns of Shirakawa and Takayama in the Gifu prefecture, both of which were like stepping back in time.

Overall, I consider my first solo trip a total success! I booked this trip last minute and decided to take a chance and I am happy I did. I am very thankful to the school and especially Yuriya for preparing me and encouraging me to step outside of my comfort zone. I now have so many fond memories to look back on as well as new friends to catch up with. I am already looking forward to my next visit!

Follow Zahra on Instagram @dagan019